Stone Temple Pilots and Korn Make the IE Merry Articles, Featured, Reviews Article by Nicholas LaRosa Photos by Jeff Serpa ONTARIO, CA—Last night marked San Bernardino’s X103.9 FM’s second annual Merry Meltdown, and a merry night it was, indeed. From opening band Assuming We Survive to headliners Stone Temple Pilots (with Chester Bennington and Korn), the emotion in Ontario’s Citizen’s Bank Arena was palpable, keeping the mosh pit swirling in a curious flurry of leather, punk plaid and ugly Christmas sweaters. Assuming We Survive earned their time slot through winning the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands 2013, and clearly had no intention of wasting the opportunity. Early comers were treated to some good old fashioned pop punk, hardcore and alternative rock, fast and loud: the perfect formula to light the fire and start the night a’melting. Despite the relatively smaller crowd at this point in the evening, the band’s catchy sing-back lyrics and frontman Adrian Estrella’s stage antics had fans fighting for the front railing. Next up was Big B. You may remember him from his 2009 summer smash single “Sinner,” which featured Scott Russo from Unwritten Law, and garnered playtime on most Southern California alternative radio stations. Other than the roughly 3:32 seconds of his performance during which he performed his hit, the set deteriorated into an unengaging series of almost catchy summer rap-reggae anthems, using drug references and profanity as a lyrical crutch. His time onstage served simply an opportunity for the so-inclined members of the audience to light up before Sick Puppies. Think Atmosphere, only without the masterfully clever wordplay that makes Slug the rap hero he is. The Sick Puppies were then faced with the task of bringing the energy level back up, which was child’s play for singer and guitarist Shim Moore, drummer Matt Goodwin, and the band’s truly bewitching bassist, Emma Anzai. The trio stepped out with a purpose, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the rock. Moore commanded the stage from the get-go, sizing up the crowd with a devilish smile. Anzai took to a vicious power stance, clawing at her bass as a stage-side fan whipped her hair around, giving off the impression that she could play her way through a hurricane. After their first song, the frontman’s voice rang out with a subtle Australian accent in the now-half-packed arena. “Are you ready to have the best F**king time of your lives?” The post Big B, lackluster crowd’s response wasn’t good enough, and Moore wasn’t going to let it fly. “That’s all you got?” The crowd wasn’t going to fail the test twice, and gave the Moore what he was looking for. “Good,” said the singer, “now F**king stay there.” The Sick Pups saved their heavier cuts for the end, songs that would have gotten the crowd jumping, even if it hadn’t been demanded of them by Moore. Whether this was strategic or coincidental, it was kind, as it left the arena amped and ready for the first of the night’s headliners, Stone Temple Pilots. Stone Temple Pilots have been touring since their reunion in 2010, however, earlier this year, the band made the decision to fire co-founder and frontman Scott Weiland after he had threatened to embark on a solo tour of the band’s Core album. In his place, the band has taken in Chester Bennington, best known for his work as lead singer of Linkin Park. Wasting no time, Bennington jumped into the creative process with the band earlier this year to record and release the five-song EP High Rise, which the group released under the name “Stone Temple Pilots and Chester Bennington.” Chester has taken a bit of criticism from Weiland fans, who doubt the nu metal vocalist’s ability to step into Weiland’s shoes, firing shots at Bennington’s range and ability to hit the notes of STP’s back catalog. Last night’s performance put any such concerns to rest. Bennington wears those shoes better than Weiland has in years. The set consisted predominantly of the band’s earlier songs, which were more than aptly performed by Bennington and masterfully performed by the DeLeo Brothers and Kretz. In addition to the old, the band brought with them some of the new, splicing in High Rise tracks like “Out of Time” and “Black Heart,” which proved to be fan favorites of the night. STP has hit a second wind with Bennington, who seems to have breathed new life into the band, as the Merry Meltdown saw Dean DeLeo and Erik Kretz in rare form; energetic and having a ball onstage along with the ever-engaging Robert DeLeo. Korn had the audience holding their breath from the moment that their road crew began uncovering the colossus of custom metalwork that is drummer Ray Luzier’s drum rack. Add that to the band’s iconic, provocative mic stands and the stage setup became a twisted art installation even before the band hit the stage, and hit the stage they did. From opening song, “Blind,” to third encore “Freak on a Leash,” Korn kept the heads banging and adrenaline pumping in a way that few bands are capable of. With every song and lyric, Korn urged the audience to take a step with them into the discomfort zone. A fitting invitation, as they are the five-part equivalent of Luis and Clark when it comes to musically expressing the dark and not-so-friendly corners of one’s mind. Above all though, the five men who make up Korn are performers. The hair, the Pagliaccian scowls, the thrashing; the entire band seems to have an aversion to spending much time with their feet on the ground; even Luzier seems to thrust himself out of his drum throne every time he mercilessly punches the kick. Beyond the music though, the show revealed Korn to be one of the more human bands in rock (shocking, I know). Whether it was Fieldy’s pride as we walked his young son and daughter onstage to help him throw his picks to the crowd, a supply supplemented by glow sticks and more picks from good ole uncles Head and Munky, or the fact that each member of the band, at some point in the show, made a trek to the left of the stage to smile, thank, and interact with their head sound engineer, Korn proved themselves to be not just great musicians, but just good people. This unexpected nuance of family togetherness left the crowd feeling all warm and fuzzy as they left the Ontario arena while mumbling the lyrics to “Freak on a Leash.” Invalid Displayed Gallery Invalid Displayed Gallery Invalid Displayed Gallery KORN WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | ITUNES | AMAZON STONE TEMPLE PILOTS WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | ITUNES SICK PUPPIES WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | ITUNES Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.
